Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United: Round 4 Preview

The Melbourne Victory will have to do without Michael Thwaite and Jose Luis Lopez tonight when it hosts Adelaide United at the Telstra Dome.

Despite Melbourne’s strong run of form so far this season, this promises to be the sternest test of the Victory’s strength. Adelaide are on equal points with Melbourne, separated only by goal difference.

Melbourne haven’t beaten Adelaide United since the Grand Final. The last time the sides met was the Pre-Season Cup, when Adelaide managed a last minute winner to give them a 2-1 victory.

The absence of Michael Thwaite and Jose Luis Lopez is obviously a cause for concern, although Sebastian Ryall is available to slot in as Thwaite’s replacement. Earlier this week, Merrick indicated that Billy Celeski would take Lopez’ usual position as defensive midfielder.

Other than that, there’s very little reason to see why Merrick would want to mess with the line-up that was so successful against the Newcastle Jets. Personally, I relish the thought of 90 more minutes of Allsopp, Fabiano, Thompson and Hernández playing together.

My tips for the weekend:

• Melbourne Victory to grab a single goal win over Adelaide United. A somewhat tempered tip this week. Adelaide are one of the strongest sides in the A-League this year.
• Newcastle Jets to rebound with narrow win over Sydney FC. Nothing like an embarrassing 5-0 loss to make a team come to its senses.
• Perth Glory to draw with Queensland Roar. Neither of these sides has won a game yet this season, and I don’t think either will get their first this round.
• Wellington Phoenix to lose to the Central Coast Mariners. The Mariners looked poor before the last round, but sprang to life against Queensland. If they can keep that momentum, they’ll dominate Wellington.